The Down County Board () or Down GAA is one of the 32

county board A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States. Related forms of county government include: * Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states * County commission, ...

s of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and is responsible for the administration of

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. The County Board is responsible for preparing the Down county teams in the various Gaelic sporting codes;

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

. The county football team was the second from the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

to win an

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

(SFC), following Cavan, and also the first team from the North to win the Sam Maguire Cup since partition, doing so in 1960. The team won the cup again in 1961 and in 1968; this feat was not matched by another team until Down next won the All-Ireland SFC in its 1991 victory. Down and Cavan share the Ulster record for most All-Ireland SFC victories (five). As such, Down is regarded historically as a strong footballing county, and football is widely regarded as the dominant Gaelic sport within the county. The

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on t ...

, however, is a hurling stronghold within the county, and – while it is not among the strongest on the island – the county hurling team competes in the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup. The "Ardsmen" (as opposed to the nickname of the football team, the "Mourne Men") have won a number of Ulster Senior (SHC) and Minor Hurling Championship (MHC) titles, despite the historical provincial dominance in that sport of Antrim. Down won the 2013 Christy Ring Cup – its first –, in what was then a competition ranked directly beneath the All-Ireland SHC. This entitled Down to enter the 2014 All-Ireland SHC; however, the team opted not to do so. Down continued to participate in the Christy Ring Cup when that competition was pushed into third place by the creation of the Joe McDonagh Cup. Down then won the 2021 Christy Ring Cup, and – with it – promotion to the Joe McDonagh Cup and eligibility for the All-Ireland SHC.

Governance

Maurice Hayes Maurice Hayes (8 July 1927 – 23 December 2017) was an Irish public servant and, late in life, an independent member of both the 21st and 22nd Seanad. Hayes was nominated by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in 1997 and re-nominated in 2002. He ...

, the county hurler, became Secretary of the Down County Board in the mid-1950s and set a ten-year plan for the county football team to become the first team from north of the border to win an All-Ireland SFC.

Clubs

The minutes of the Central Council of the GAA record that on 30 April 1888 an application for affiliation was received from St Patrick's, Mayobridge, County Down. The acceptance of the application makes this the oldest registered GAA club in the county. * Aghaderg–Ballyvarley �
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* Annaclone * An Riocht * Aughlisnafin �
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* Ardglass * Atticall �
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* Ballela * Ballycran GAC * Ballygalget GAC * Ballyholland Harps �
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* Ballykinlar �
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* Ballymartin �
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* Bredagh GAC * Bright GFC * Bryansford �
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* Burren * Carryduff * Castlewellan GAC * Clann na Banna �
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* Clonduff GAC * Darragh Cross �
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* Russell Gaelic Union, Downpatrick * Dromara �
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* Drumaness �
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* Drumgath * Dundrum �
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* East Belfast GAA * Glasdrumman �
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* Glenn �
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* Kilclief Ben Dhreag �
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* Kilcoo GAC * Liatroim Fontenoys GAC * Longstone GAC * Loughinisland * Mayobridge * John Mitchel GFC * Cumann Pheadair Naofa (formerly known as Warrenpoint GAA) * Newry Bosco GFC * Newry Shamrocks �
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* Portaferry * Rostrevor �
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* Saul �
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* Saval �
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* St John's, Drumnaquoile * St Michael's, Kilwarlin �
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* St Paul's �
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* Teconnaught * Tullylish �
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Football

Clubs

The county's most successful football club is Kilcoo. Kilcoo has won the Down Senior Football Championship on eighteen occasions, and also won the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship in 2019 and 2021, as well as the 2021–22 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.

County team

Down has won the

(SFC) on five occasions, most recently in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Down was not regarded as a football stronghold when Queen's University won the 1958

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. T ...

, and some of its leading players turned their thoughts to Down's county team dilemma. Down won the 1959

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

(SFC) title with six inter-changeable forwards who introduced off-the-ball running and oddities such as track-suits. In 1960, two goals in a three-minute period from James McCartan and Paddy Doherty helped Down to defeat Kerry, who were almost completely unbeaten at the time, and which brought to an end the Kerry football regime for a few years. In 1961, Down defeated Offaly by one point in a game that featured five first half goals. In that three-year period their supporters surpassed every attendance record in the book. When Down played Offaly in 1961 they set a record attendance of 90,556 for a GAA game. Against

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in the 1964 National League final a record crowd of 70,125 attended. The 71,573 who watched Down play Kerry in 1961 still stands as a record for an All-Ireland SFC semi-final. In 1968, Down defeated Kerry with Sean O'Neill and John Murphy goals, again in a two-minute spell. Despite a famous prediction that Down would go on to win three-in-a-row, the county took twenty years to regain its status. In 1991, Down surprised favourites Meath, Barry Breen scoring the goal that sent his team into a lead of eleven points with twenty minutes to go, a lead that Meath could not match. In 1994, Mickey Linden sent James McCartan in for a goal directly under Hill 16, a goal which silenced Dublin and helped Down claim its fifth All-Ireland SFC title.

Hurling

Clubs

Five Down hurling clubs, Carryduff, Ballycran, Ballygalget, Portaferry and Bredagh play in the Antrim League. Ballycran and Portaferry used the experience to win Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championships. Ballygalget, Portaferry and Ballycran play in Antrim Div 1 while Carryduff and Bredagh play in Div 2. Clubs also contest the Down Senior Hurling Championship.

County team

Gates Gaelic athletic park Saul County Down

Down played in the

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic ...

for three years in the 1970s, even playing Antrim in an unusual Leinster semi-final at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

in 1979 (neither county is located in

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

). Although Down had not won the All-Ireland B championship in four final appearances, when the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was revived, Down won titles in 1992, 1995 and 1997, losing the All-Ireland semi-finals by 14, 11 and 16 points. Down defeated

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

in a Division 1 match in 1993 by a scoreline of 1–12 to 1–11. Down hurlers won the Christy Ring Cup for the first time in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, their greatest All-Ireland level success to date. This entitled them to enter the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship; however, Down opted to remain in the 2nd tier competition on this occasion.

Camogie

Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion", five new camogie clubs were to be established in the county by 2015. Leitrim Fontenoys won the 2004 and 2005 All Ireland junior club title. Down contested the final of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 1948, having beaten Galway 1-5 to 1-1 in the All Ireland semi-final, with N Mallon the captain, one of the players a 13-year-old girl, and S Fitzpatrick, S Magee and S Reevy among the other members of the team. Down won the inaugural All Ireland junior championship in 1968 and inaugural All-Ireland Minor (Under-16) Camogie Championship in 1974, Down won further All Ireland junior championship titles in 1976 and 1991. Paul Donnelly managed the senior camogie team for three seasons, until 2024. The injured Antrim hurler Domhnall Nugent succeeded Donnelly as manager. Síghle Nic an Ultaigh and Belle O'Loughlin were both presidents of the

Camogie Association The Camogie Association (, formerly ) organises and promotes the sport of camogie in Ireland and around the world. The association has close ties with the Gaelic Athletic Association, but is still a separate organisation. History The Camogie A ...

for a time in the twentieth century.

Ladies' football

Down has a ladies' football team.

References

External links

Official website

Down
at '' Hogan Stand''
National and provincial titles won by Down teams

Club championship winners

{{GAA bodies Gaelic games governing bodies in Northern Ireland Gaelic games governing bodies in Ulster